


For the Ones We Love

by Squidacles



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Awkward Park Jisung (NCT), Bittersweet Ending, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Crying, Emotional Hurt, Established Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, M/M, Mentioned Zhong Chen Le, NCT 2018, NCT 2019, NCT Dream Ensemble-centric, Park Jisung (NCT)-centric, Sad Na Jaemin, Soft Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Sweet Lee Jeno, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:21:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23696914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squidacles/pseuds/Squidacles
Summary: Jisung's 18th birthday in his seemingly perfect town.//This was inspired from the original story "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	For the Ones We Love

**Author's Note:**

> TW// mentions of child abuse and neglect

It’s Jisung's 18th birthday and he’s so excited. He gets to spend the summer festival with his best friends and just fool around. 

That's everyone's ideal day, right?

He quickly got ready and ran downstairs, putting on his shoes before he heard a yell from his mom.

"WAIT! DON'T GO YET!" Jisung turned around to see his mom fidgeting nervously, and his dad avoiding eye contact.  
"We actually have to tell you something, now that you've turned 18. Just...promise not to get mad, okay?"

____

"JISUNG PARK! WHERE WERE YOU?!" Jaemin screamed while pulling Renjun and Jeno behind him, with Mark and Donghyuck holding hands and walking behind the three. 

It's a typical festival scene. The smell of fried food and the sound of children's laughter filled the air. Multiple tents filled with fun games for people of all ages sat in lines across a wide span of a grassy field. In the corner of everything was a big, red, chain carousel. It spun round and round while sounding out circus music. 

Jisung shook his head and smiled at his group of best friends semi arguing while rushing to his side. 

"Hey! Sorry I was late! My parents were giving me that grown-up talk, you know, about…" Jisung lowered his voice as he said this "..sex." At this, the whole group burst into laughter. "SEX? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? MARK AND I DID THAT EVEN BEFORE WE TURNED 18" "OH MY GOSH HYUCK, NOT NOW!" Mark smacked Donghyuck on the arm while the others just started laughing at their dispute, with Jisung still being slightly distressed. 

"Okay whatever, it’s over. Y'all wanna go play some bean toss?" Jisung offered to the others. Before anyone got a say in anything, Donghyuck shoved Mark out of the way and ran towards the bean toss area.

"WHOEVER'S LAST IS A ROTTEN EGG!"

____

It's now four in the afternoon and the boys are walking to a cafe for some dinner while recounting some events that took place during the festival. 

The whole time, Jisung was always a little off. Laughing a beat too late, staring off into space, monotonous voice, just everything that wasn't the normal Jisung.

A soft breeze blew through their hair as the group walked down a cobbled street surrounded by buildings with lovely magenta bougainvillea plants wrapping down the walls of faded yellow buildings. They finally reached an old fashioned cafe, known for it's comfy and soothing interior and homemade cheesecake. 

They went inside of the cozy space and sat down on plush sofas, while Donghyuck and Mark went up to order food. As they did that, Renjun decided to address the elephant in the room.

"Jisung, you know we all care about you, right? If there's something bothering you, please let us know." He said as he took in Jisungs hand into his own, rubbing it soothingly. 

Jeno rubs his shoulder and gives him a famous eye smile. "Yeah, we're your best friends. We will always be there for you, no matter the reason.

Donghyuck and Mark came back from the counter with their food and looked around at the others and decided to just push the food aside for now. 

Jisung lets out a shaky breath as he starts to talk.

"Okay, I'll tell you what my parents actually talked to me about this morning."

____

Jisung's mother sat him down in their familiar family room. Plush leather couches, a grand marble fireplace, soft fur carpets, family photos and many more comforting items that Jisung always admired.

After a brief pause of Jisung's mom sighing, she finally looked up at him. 

"Jisung, now that you're 18, we need to talk to you about something very important."

"It’s about sex, right? If so, then I can just ask Donghyuck about it."

"No no oh my gosh, that's for another time. We need to talk to you about 'the child'. 

You see, there is a...let's call it a child(even though it's barely human), living in a basement under a particular house.

It has no particular gender, but it doesn't matter in the end anyway because it's not important.

It's barely fed enough food, just a little bowl of corn flakes and another little bowl of water. No cakes, no roasts, and no fancy drinks. Nothing at all. 

It doesn't have a bathroom either. It sits in their own excrement and develops nasty rashes on it's behind because it has nothing to wash it off. I'm pretty sure it has to eat with its dirty hands too, which is absolutely disgusting.

There's no light in there whatsoever. It's just pitch black. I'm pretty sure it's been in the dark for so long that they can't really see light properly, but we rarely visit the creature so we're not sure.

I remember, in the beginning, it used to cry and shout for help. It would always beg for its mother and father as if anything would ever care for that nasty little creature. It never says anything anymore(thank gosh) but it'll occasionally just whimper like a dog, imagine!

But the amazing thing is, that's all for our sake! It's suffering for our happiness! But, if we just show it a tiny bit of compassion, our town will fall apart. It will never be perfect again, we will also live in misery and imperfection. 

We can't let that happen, right? So we must stay frightened and hateful for our happiness! If you would like, we could even take you to see the child, to show you what it's like to live in misery outside of this town."

The once familiar house was now like a stranger's home. Jisung looked at the family photos just to see unknown faces staring back at him. The once sumptuous leather couches now became hardened pieces of dead flesh. All the luxuries Jisung has seems to just fade into grey matter. At what cost was this house built from? A child's life? Jisung started feeling sick and stood up.

His mother also stood up and ushered Jisung to the door, rushing him as if she's afraid of something.

"Now, go outside! It's the festival and it's time for you to be with your friends. But remember, don't talk about this with anyone, because if you do, it might start something."

____

The table was quiet. No one really knew what to say after that. It seemed like time stopped just for a moment.

Finally, Mark broke the silence. 

"That story is actually quite interesting because my parents told me the same exact story on my 18th birthday. " Jeno's eyes widened as he looked across the table at Mark.

"Really? Yours too? Mine also told me about this on my birthday, but I never knew what to make of it." 

One by one, the rest agreed that they've also heard a similar story on their 18th birthday. The reason why it was never brought up is that the story is so unsettling, so unnatural that each friend just thought it was a made-up thing by their parents in order to give them a little scare.

Clearly not.

“Should we, you know, ask our parents about it? If it’s true, maybe they can show us or something?” Jisung spoke up in a tiny voice, looking around to see the opinions of the others but instead saw the disapproving look of Renjun. 

“Jisung, are you serious? Are you saying that you want to see a miserable and lonely child just to fill your imagination? Are you sick?” Renjun retorted. It’s clear that he snapped under the tension, he looks so pale and nauseous that Jaemin started rubbing his shoulders 

“Look, I’m not saying I want to. But what if it’s made up? What if it’s just some local folklore? We won’t know until we ask.” “Maybe we should check it out. It won’t harm us if it’s false. And if it’s true, well… we can see the child for ourselves and see if their condition is as bad as our parents made it seem.” Donghyuck was shaking as he spoke. Jisung looked up to see Mark grabbing Donghyuck’s hand and squeezing it, rubbing his hand back and forth as Donghyuck tried to take deep breaths.

"Listen, I'm not really sure if it's a good idea, but let's just go ask anyways. We'll all stick together in the end." Jeno gave a weak smile as he said this, clearly not wanting to go. Jaemin looked around for confirmation and everyone nodded, not really knowing what to say.

"Okay, let's go"

____

"But see, after seeing this child, you start to feel a longing for a family because once you see it, it makes you feel compassion for other children. That's how you and your brother were born." Jisung's parents were rambling on about the child as they took the six kids to see the child.

They walked down winding roads filled with fully blossomed flowers and huge mansion-like houses, each house getting bigger and bigger the farther they went down the road.

Jisung looked around and saw some people relaxing on their porches, and even saw some children playing around on their front lawns. He wonders if each of these people knew the dark secret that lurks in their neighborhood. 

After what seemed like forever, they finally reached the biggest house in the area. 

The group entered through giant iron gates only to be greeted by an enormous fountain in the centre of the lawn. The fountain was at least Renjun's height and was made out of beige stone. Intricately carved lions spewed water out from their mouths and fell into a pool of turquoise water.

Across all sides of the house is a vast expanse of green grass. Neatly trimmed hedges lined pathways leading to vibrant flower beds with hues richer than anything Jisung has ever seen before. There are even paths going into the back part of the house, presumably going into a greenhouse or pool of some sort. 

With confidence, Jisung's parents stride to the front of the house and knock on the door. The door opens to reveal a sweet old lady, maybe around 65 years old, wearing a long amethyst coloured dress. Jisung's mom whispered something into the older woman's ear, and the door was immediately opened wide to reveal the interior of the house.

The inside of the house is immense. Smooth dark wood floors covered the area while a massive crystal chandelier hung right above the entryway, giving off a soft glow in the process. Large scaled windows accompanied by lush velvet curtains almost cover the entirety of the front of the house, letting the faint evening light into the room. 

There were a few corridors to go through, each one looking identical to the next with, many doors and runners with exotic designs adding a splash of colour to the normally boring hallway. The woman walked through one of the hallways, going through many twists and turns in the process. After what seemed like an eternity, the woman stopped in front of an older looking door, obviously more faded and damaged compared to the rest of the house.

The old lady smiled and walked off, leaving the group alone.

"Alright guys, this is it. You guys can open it whenever you're ready, we've already seen it." Jisung's parents gave them a smile of encouragement, and walked off after the lady, catching up to her in the process.

Everyone turned to Jisung, who painfully swallowed a lump down his throat. He took a few deep breaths and shakily reached for the doorknob. As he placed his hand upon it, he felt another hand go upon his shoulder. He turns his head to see Mark give him a little smile of encouragement. 

Jisung let out a deep breath and opened the door.

It was worse than any of them would have imagined.

Upon opening the door, a foul stench instantly hit their noses. It was like a mix of feces, urine, bile, and just any fluid that comes out of the human body. The boys instinctively covered their noses and as the light shone into the two by eighteen-foot room, they caught a glimpse of a pair of eyes.

Looking in, they saw a boy about their age, shivering and looking terrified. 

His naked body was covered in his own fecal matter, with red and angry looking rashes peaking out. He was scarily skinny, his arms and legs were so thin they looked like they could be snapped in half. The outline of his ribcage was very prominent as his stomach was slightly sunken in, making him look even skinnier.

His face just screamed fear. His eyes were wide as a doe's as he looked around at the mysterious people in front of him. He seemed to get even more afraid, as he huddled into a corner and curled up into a ball.

Jisung heard gagging and turned his head to see Renjun running off, looking like he's trying to hold back on vomiting. Donghyuck just fell onto the ground and started uncontrollably sobbing. Mark dropped right next to him and pulled him into a tight hug, away from the unsightly view. Jaemin and Jeno just stood there, pale as a ghost and visibly shaking from fear, wrath, or even guilt. 

But Jisung felt slightly connected to the boy. He wanted to reach out and hug him and tell him everything will be alright. He felt himself leaving a bit forward, fingers twitching by his side before Jeno pulled him back and softly closed the door.

"I think that's enough of that for today."

____

When they reached the outside, they saw Renjun hunched over to the side, heaving and gasping for air. Jaemin immediately rushed to his side and rubbed circles around his back, whispering little bits of reassurance into his ear. 

Donghyuck wasn't crying anymore, but he was still shaking. Mark had his arm around him and rubbed his shoulder, in an attempt to calm Donghyuck down. 

Jisung didn't know what to feel. He didn't feel compassion, resentment, happiness, or anything his parents said he would feel.

He felt guilty.

Guilty that throughout his life, he got to live a luxurious life while someone suffered for his own sake. And the person wasn't even an adult, it was someone their age.

Jisung clenched his fists and shook. He wants to go back. He wanted to break the person out of there. He wanted to help them. He wanted to-

"We can't do anything about it." Jeno appeared from behind Jisung, walking ahead and beckoning Jisung to follow suit.

He looked behind him at his mess of friends, with Renjun having a panic attack and Donghyuck still trembling like a newborn fowl, he decided to follow Jeno. They started walking around the lot, trying to clear their minds. 

"I know we aren't allowed to do anything about the situation, but it just feels so wrong. Why should he suffer for our sake? He doesn't even know any of us, he only remembers his family and home and suddenly, it got taken away from it. That's not fair." Jisung felt a lump in his throat as he spoke. He didn't want to cry. Not here, not now.

"Well, life isn't fair Jisung. There's nothing we can really do about the boy without our town falling apart. Trust me, I want to help too, but what can we even do?" 

They both stayed silent as they continued walking. There was nothing else to say really, what can they say? 

They ended up walking back to their friends, where they were just sitting upon the steps of the house. Renjun and Donghyuck looked slightly better but still looked like they could break down at any given moment. 

"Guys, let's go. I don't think we should stay for any longer." "B-but, what about your parents?" Donghyuck sniffled out. He's right, but Jisung didn't want to see his parents right now.

"Doesn't matter, let's just go." They all arose and walked out of the gates, out of the winding neighbourhood, and onto the place where the festival took place earlier that day. Everything got taken down so now it's just an empty field filled with little flowers and the setting sun. 

They all sat down in the middle of the field and laid back. Some hands intertwined, some bodies lying across one another, and some heads being buried into another's shoulders. No one’s talking now, each person is just hesitating on saying something, anything. 

After a while of laying like that, Renjun finally spoke up.

"I honestly don't think I can stay in this town anymore. Seeing that boy suffering for our sake is just absolutely sickening. I don't want to live here anymore." He propped himself onto his elbows and turned to look at the group, looking for some type of confirmation.

“I agree, but you know what happens to people who leave Omelas. They’re never heard from again.” Mark speaks up while playing with a strand of Donghyuck’s hair “Don’t get me wrong, I also feel wrong about the whole situation, but what will happen if we just leave? Will we die in the mountains? Is there another town past them? I don’t know if I’m willing to take that risk.”

“Mark, you can not be serious right now.” “Okay, what if I am? What are you going to do about it?” Mark raised his eyebrow and sat up. “Omelas is home Renjun, are you really going to abandon the only home you know of? Even our parents said that they felt awful, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We can either live our lives in Omelas and try to not think about the child or leave and possibly die-off in God knows where.” 

Jaemin finally sat up.

“Mark, are you serious? Are you actually mental? Telling us just to ignore it because you’re too comfortable where you are? Sorry but I have to agree with Renjun, you need to get your head out of the clouds and think realistically.” “You’re telling me to be realistic? Stop being such a kiss ass for Renjun and think with your brain, you idiot. Do you really want to throw away your whole life just to forget about someone? Well guess what, this kind of thing will stick with us forever, so it doesn’t matter if we leave or not. You’re not helping the child’s situation by leaving, you’re only hurting yourself.” Donghyuck grabbed Mark’s waist and held onto it, trying to calm down a close to yelling Mark. Mark is visibly angry, he’s trembling from anger and puts his hands over Donghyuck’s as a way to calm himself down. 

The only ones staying quiet are Jisung and Jeno. It’s more of a Renjun and Jaemin versus Mark situation and they don’t really know what to say. Who could say anything in this situation right now? Jisung’s best friends are practically yelling at each other over who has a better moral compass and who is to blame.

“Jisung, who do you think is in the wrong?” Jaemin turned and loudly asked Jisung. He didn’t know how to answer, it’s like your parents asking you who you like more. 

Now it’s Jeno’s turn to speak up.

“Are you guys children? Asking Jisung what he thinks, how would he know? Today was supposed to be one of the best days of his life and now it got ruined, are you guys really that selfish to not think about other people’s feelings? Take this somewhere else guys, this conversation is now over. One more peep and I’m leaving, and I’ll also be taking Jisung with me.”

Everyone got quiet, and nothing else could be heard except for the rustling of grass and the distant laughter of children.

____

Days have passed since Jisung’s birthday, and no one has ever brought up the child. Everything was almost normal again, with the exception of Renjun and Jaemin being seemingly closer than before. 

A week later, on a warm June night, Jisung heard some stones being thrown at his window. He looks out the window to see Renjun and Jaemin outside, both looking forlorn. Jisung quickly put on some sandals and ran outside.

“Hey, what’s up? It’s like ten at night, shouldn’t you guys be doing something else?” Renjun and Jaemin both looked at each other with some strange mutual agreement and turned back to Jisung. 

“Jisung, listen...Renjun and I are going to leave Omelas. ” Jisung stood there frozen, trying to process the information he was just given. He gives out a forced laugh and tries to smile.

“Haha, you guys are so funny, come on, what’s the real reason why you guys were here?” Renjun just sighed and placed his hands on Jisung’s shoulders, rubbing it out and giving him a guilty smile. 

“I knew you would say that, but we’re serious about it, we truly want to leave Omelas.” Jisung's eyes widened at Renjun’s words and he turned to Jaemin who was also looking just as guilty. 

“Are you guys serious? What about our plans for raising our children and all of us growing old together? Did that suddenly just go out the window?” Jisung raised his voice and saw Renjun flinch beneath him, immediately feeling regret after. “Jisung, you’re still so young. We don’t expect you to understand why we made this decision. We just want you to support us, that’s all we’re asking for.” 

Renjun looked so small at that moment. Jisung suddenly got a flashback of when they were children and he protected Renjun from a group of kids that bullied him for his small build. Jaemin took Renjun’s hand and looked at Jisung. 

“We’ll tell the others tomorrow, but we wanted you to know first. You’ll be the only one who’ll know the real reason behind our leave.” Jaemin gave a small yet sad smile to Jisung and walked away with Renjun in hand, giving a small wave goodbye. Jisung stood there, watching them leave until they fell out of sight, and fell down onto the grass. His breathing became shallow as he balled his fists into the ground. 

He was going to lose his best friends 

____

The same familiar scene is shown at the cafe. Except that the atmosphere was grim and everyone looked down as Renjun relayed the news. 

“Wait, so you’re telling us that you guys are leaving Omelas? And the whole reason why is because you guys just want to see the outside world?” Mark leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms menacingly, “That’s literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Jaemin raised his brow in defense to Mark, “Why is that dumb? We suddenly can’t experience the outside world now?” “You both know very well that everyone who has left Omelas has never returned. We don’t know what’s out there and there’s nothing to tell us if you’ll survive. Sure, there might be more towns but they’re not like Omelas, they don’t live like us, they’re not as happy as us.” Renjun scoffed at his words, clearly offended. 

Jeno just sighed and rubbed his nose bridge, “Guys, look, Mark just meant that it’s uncertain how the world is beyond Omelas. He’s just worried about you guys.” Mark gave Jeno an appreciative nod and buried his face into his hands. Jaemin gave a long sigh and ruffled his hair. “Can’t you guys just support our decision? That’s all we’re asking for, support. ” His eyes looked droopy, almost showing how defeated he was. Renjun grabbed his hand and rubbed it soothingly, looking up at Jaemin with worry. 

Jisung looked down at his own hands, feeling an overwhelming amount of guilt. He knows Renjun and Jaemin trust him with the real reason, but it’s hard to decide if he should keep quiet about it or not. He was about to say something until Donghyuck spoke up.

“Okay.” 

That single word made everyone look up in surprise. 

“We may not be able to stop you, but you’re still our friends. We will support you no matter the cost. Just promise one thing for me. For us. Please, one day, promise you’ll come back.”

“We promise.”

____

A fortnight has passed and the group has met up at the border of Omelas. The border was a simple path leading into a lush evergreen forest, past that path was the unknown. Jaemin and Renjun both have packed backpacks with clothes and money, ready to set out into the world.

Donghyuck grabbed Renjun’s arm clingingly, “Are you guys sure you want to leave? It’s not too late to change your mind.” Renjun gave a soft smile and pulled him into a bear hug “Yes, we’re sure Hyuck. ” “And our promise?” “It still stands.” Donghyuck pulled away and wiped some tears that formed in his eye. Mark and Jeno took turns hugging the others and exchanging words of sadness. 

Jisung stood behind everyone, just watching the exchange of tearful goodbyes. Jisung felt guilty for the secrets he’s keeping from the group. He wanted to say the real reason why Renjun and Jaemin were leaving, he wanted to say how he felt about the child, he wanted to say so many things about the whole situation. His head was full of swirls and he started swaying back and forth. All of a sudden, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Jeno giving him a small smile.

“C’mon Jisung, it’s time to say goodbye.”

____

As Jisung lied in his bed later that day, he thought about Renjun and Jaemin waving goodbye as they hiked off into the unfamiliar forest. He wondered if they’ll ever come back, and if so when they would. A few months? A few years? He sighed and buried his face into his pillow.

Until they come back, Jisung will just hold onto the promise Renjun made. 

The promise of return. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you can't figure out who the child is, here's a hint: this is an ot7 story, who's the missing person?


End file.
